This weekend we will take a departure from James and its instruction on how to live in the here and now, to glance back at our past for a better glimpse into our future.

Truly every person on earth wants, in some way, to know where he or she comes from. There are websites that specialize in family-tree-finding, and folks use social media to locate their birth parents. There is something in all of us that desires the knowledge of origin. Perhaps this is why one of the first things we ask someone is invariably: “Where are you from?” It is a significant question in so many ways.

And significant spiritually, too. This weekend we’ll look at that and see if, by determining where we are from, we might be able to cling to a present hope in the future all the more tightly.